Diet in The Desert and Beyond

David Grumett and Rachel Muers “Theology on the Menu: Asceticism, Meat and Christian Diet” [London: Routledge, 2010]
“Food – what we eat, how much we eat, how it is produced and prepared, and its cultural and ecological significance- is an increasingly significant topic not only for scholars but for all of us. “Theology on the Menu” is the first systematic and historical assessment of Christian attitudes to food and its role in shaping Christian identity. David Grumett and Rachel Muers unfold a fascinating history of feasting and fasting, food regulations and resistance to regulation, the symbolism attached to particular foods, the relationship between diet and doctrine, and how food has shaped inter-religious encounters.”

Angel F. Mendez-Montoya “The Theology of Food: Eating and the Eucharist” [Wiley-Blackwell, 2012]
“The links between religion and food have been known for centuries, and yet we rarely examine or understand the nature of the relationship between food and spirituality, or food and sin. Drawing on literature, politics, and philosophy as well as theology, this book unlocks the role food has played within religious tradition.
A fascinating book tracing the centuries–old links between theology and food, showing religion in a new and intriguing light
Draws on examples from different religions: the significance of the apple in the Christian Bible and the eating of bread as the body of Christ; the eating and fasting around Ramadan for Muslims; and how the dietary laws of Judaism are designed to create an awareness of living in the time and space of the Torah
Explores ideas from the fields of literature, politics, and philosophy, as well as theology
Takes seriously the idea that food matters, and that the many aspects of eating table fellowship, culinary traditions, the aesthetic, ethical and political dimensions of food are important and complex, and throw light on both religion and our relationship to food”

Norman Wirzba “Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating” [Cambridge University Press, 2011]
“This book provides a comprehensive theological framework for assessing significance of eating, employing a Trinitarian theological lens to evaluate food production and consumption practices as they are being worked out in today’s industrial food systems. Norman Wirzba combines the tools of ecological, agrarian, cultural, biblical and theological analyses to draw a picture of eating that cares for creatures and that honors God. Unlike books that focus on vegetarianism or food distribution as the key theological matters, this book broadens the scope to include discussions on the sacramental character of eating, eating’s ecological and social contexts, the meaning of death and sacrifice as they relate to eating, the Eucharist as the place of inspiration and orientation, the importance of saying grace and whether or not there will be eating in Heaven. Food and Faith demonstrates that eating is of profound economic, moral and theological significance.”

Richard Alan Young “Is God a Vegetarian?: Christianity, Vegetarianism, and Animal Rights [Open Court, 1998]
“ “Is God a Vegetarian?” is one of the most complete explorations of vegetarianism in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Young, a linguistics and New Testament scholar, attempts to answer the question being asked with greater and greater frequency: “Are Christians morally obligated to be vegetarians?”
Many people are confused about the apparent mixed messages within the Bible. On the one hand, God prescribes a vegetarian diet in the Garden of Eden and the apocalyptic visions of Isaiah and John imply the restoration of a vegetarian diet. However, it is also clear that God permits, Jesus partakes in, and Paul sanctions the eating of flesh. Does the Bible give any clear guidance?
Close readings of key biblical texts pertaining to dietary customs, vegetarianism, and animal rights make up the substance of the book. Rather than ignoring or offering a literal, twentieth-century interpretation of the passages, the author analyzes the voices of these conflicting dietary motifs within their own social contexts. Interwoven throughout these readings are discussions of contemporary issues, such as animal testing and experimentation, the fur industry, raising animals in factories, and the effects of meat-eating on human health.”